The Los Angeles Clippers retained Chris Paul, overhauled their bench and changed the order of the Western Conference in the process. They weren't the only team to add talent, with the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors nabbing big free agents in Dwight Howard and Andre Iguodala.

A number of teams are likely to dip this season because they have stayed stagnant, however. And, without giving too much away, the Lakers and Thunder are the worst culprits there. With that said, we rank the tougher Western Conference, from No. 1 to 15.

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1

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LA Clippers

Upside: Not only did the Clippers keep point guard Chris Paul, but they loaded up with perimeter shooters Jared Dudley, J.J. Redick and Antawn Jamison. None of that matters quite as much as the addition of coach Doc Rivers, who gives the Clips a strong voice and championship pedigree. The Clippers are no longer the butt of NBA jokes everywhere. They should be the West favorites.
Downside: As good as the roster looks for LA, the key to turning this bunch into a championship contender is the development of their young frontcourt, power forward Blake Griffin and center DeAndre Jordan. There isn’t much in reserve behind those two (Ryan Hollins, Byron Mullens) so getting both to hit their peaks will be crucial.

2

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San Antonio

Upside: The notion that the Spurs are old is overblown, because they have developed a solid supporting cast of young players to go around Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Chief among them is small forward Kawhi Leonard, who is poised for a breakout year. Danny Green, Tiago Splitter, Cory Joseph—there is a list of quality young players who are thriving.

Downside: Ginobili ran out of gas last year, and at age 36, it’s uncertain what the Spurs can get out of him. Duncan was brilliant last year, but he is 37. Even Parker is 31 now. The trick for Popovich (who lost assistant coaches Mike Budenholzer and Brett Brown this summer) has been to gradually spread responsibility to the rest of the roster.

3

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Houston

Upside: The Rockets were the big winners in free agency, landing center Dwight Howard a year after adding star guard James Harden. Howard has had a rough two years, but now with some stability and a new contract, he figures to return to the league’s elite. The Rockets are young, with up-and-coming players like Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, Patrick Beverley, Chandler Parsons and Donatas Motiejunas, who can also be used as trade chips.

Downside: The roster still needs work. It was widely expected that the Rockets would deal Asik once they got Howard, but Asik has not gone anywhere. They’re lacking a traditional power forward and with Beverley, Lin, Isaiah Canaan and Aaron Brooks, have an overload of point guards.

4

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Golden State

Upside: The Warriors had a breakthrough last season, reaching the second round of the playoffs and taking the Spurs to six games even without starting forward David Lee. Stephen Curry established himself as a star, and a young supporting cast was bolstered by the addition of Andre Iguodala. The Warriors only figure to improve.

Downside: Iguodala will push one of the Warriors’ young contributors—Klay Thompson or Harrison Barnes—to the bench after both were made starters from the beginning of last year. That’s a potential chemistry issue for Mark Jackson. Lee remains a defensive liability, which puts more pressure on oft-injured center Andrew Bogut to stay healthy.

5

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Oklahoma City

Upside: The Thunder have two of the best players in the league, forward Kevin Durant and guard Russell Westbrook. Forward Serge Ibaka took a step forward offensively last year, too, averaging 13.2 points, and guard Thabo Sefolosha shot 41.9 percent from the 3-point line. Guard Reggie Jackson averaged 13.9 points in the playoffs, taking over after Westbrook hurt his knee.
Downside: The third man of the Thunder’s star trio was James Harden two years ago, and Kevin Martin last year. Now, it is … well, we don’t know. Oklahoma City will be relying on youngsters to come through year, and that’s a gamble. It could be Jackson. Or, it could be second-year swingman Jeremy Lamb, who has been compared to Martin. There’s also mystery man Perry Jones. If the Thunder find the right mix, they’ll be contenders again.

6

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Denver

Upside: Almost everything the Nuggets lost last year was replaced in some fashion. There is a new front office in place, as well as new coach Brian Shaw. They lost Corey Brewer and Andre Iguodala, but added Darrell Arthur, J.J. Hickson and Nate Robinson. They still have the personnel to play the all-out blitzing style that got them 57 wins last year, and they can do it with bigger players.
Downside: Shaw is a first-time head coach replacing Coach of the Year George Karl. He has a big task, trying to put his own imprint on a team that has developed a style of play under Karl. The talent has been slightly downgraded, and in the ultracompetitive West, that could be costly.

7

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Memphis

Upside: The Grizzlies still have their cornerstone frontline of Marc Gasol (the reigning Defensive Player of the Year) and Zach Randolph, and few teams can boast that sort of size up front. Their offense didn’t suffer much after the trade of Rudy Gay, thanks in large part to the play of Mike Conley, who averaged 16.7 points on 46.0 percent shooting after the All-Star break and figures to carry that momentum into this season.
Downside: The Grizz are dismantling this group, a process which began with the trade of Gay and continued when they did not re-sign coach Lionel Hollins. Randolph, potentially a free agent next summer, could be next. They’re still good enough to warrant a playoff spot—depending on what happens with Randolph, at least.

8

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Portland

Upside: It is impossible to overstate how horrendous the Blazers bench was last season—no regular reserve averaged better than 6.0 points. Kudos, then, to the acquistions of Mo Williams, Earl Watson, Thomas Robinson and Dorell Wright. With a core of point guard Damian Lillard and forward LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers have the talent and, now, the depth for a playoff run.

Downside: The team has squelched rumors of Aldridge’s unhappiness, but it’s easy to see where such stories originate. Aldridge is in his prime, having been an All-Star the last two years, and the Blazers missed the playoffs both times. If Portland gets off to a rocky start, the Aldridge-wants-out stories might crop up again, to the detriment of team chemistry.

9

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Minnesota

Upside: The Timberwolves have not been to the playoffs since 2004, but there is cause for optimism this year. The Wolves have talent, starting with a frontcourt pairing of forward Kevin Love and center Nikola Pekovic. Point guard Ricky Rubio should be back to 100 percent, and he might be the key to running Rick Adelman’s offense. The team lost Andrei Kirilenko, but the additions of Kevin Martin and Corey Brewer should make up for that.
Downside: Last year, it took 45 wins to earn a playoff spot. It might be even tougher in the West this year, and that’s a big obstacle for Minnesota. Health will be critical, especially for Love, who played only 18 games because of a wrist injury and must get his shooting rhythm back. It would also be nice to see more from Rubio, who has missed 50 games in his first two seasons.

10

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New Orleans

Upside: The new-look Pelicans were bold in the offseason, trading their No. 6 pick to the Sixers for guard Jrue Holiday and aggressively signing guard Tyreke Evans in the early stages of free agency. With shooting guard Eric Gordon, the Pelicans will have a revamped backcourt and are expecting a leap forward from former No. 1 pick Anthony Davis. They have their sights set on a playoff spot.

Downside: Though they will be improved, the Pelicans may need a year to secure that postseason spot, because they’re young and lack depth. They also may be waiting to make a move involving the Evans-Gordon-Holiday trio—all three are ball-pounding isolation players, and it’s hard to see how they can function together. The Pelicans have talent, but they need time to sort it out.

11

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LA Lakers

Upside: They’re ready for 2014. Having watched Dwight Howard ditch them at the altar, the Lakers moved on by … well, by doing very little. They amnestied Metta World Peace and have Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant heading into contract years. The Lakers won’t be terrible this year—hey, they added Chris Kaman and Nick Young, didn’t they?—but the focus is on the cap space they will have next summer.

Downside: This will be a bizarre year in LA The Lakers will watch as the Clippers rise, possibly to the top of the West. Meanwhile, Bryant will have to adjust to life after Achilles surgery, and the Lakers will trudge through another year under Mike D’Antoni. In a stacked West, the playoffs are beyond a longshot here.

12

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Dallas

Upside: They will score. The Mavs have an abundance of quick undersize guards on hand, having signed Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon and Devin Harris after drafting Shane Larkin. Those guys will give the offense more punch around mainstay Dirk Nowitzki. Center Samuel Dalembert will anchor the defense.
Downside: For the second straight year, the Mavs’ free-agent gamble—they wanted Chris Paul and/or Dwight Howard—came up empty, and the team had to build a roster from scraps. It is tough enough to learn defense with a new team in general, but with nine new players and so few good individual defenders, the Mavs will give up a lot of points. Though there is more talent on hand than there was last year, it’s unlikely this is a playoff team.

13

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Sacramento

Upside: There’s a new owner, a new general manager (Pete D’Alessandro) and a new coach (Mike Malone). Moreover, there is a new sense of stability now that the team knows it isn’t moving. The Kings reordered their roster by letting Tyreke Evans walk, bringing in point guard Greivis Vasquez and drafting shooting guard Ben McLemore. Veterans Carl Landry and Luc Mbah a Moute will help on the floor and in the locker room.
Downside: It’s still all about DeMarcus Cousins here. D’Alessandro and Malone have worked hard already to befriend and, hopefully, inspire Cousins, because the near- and long-term future of this franchise depends on Cousins developing his game and becoming a much, much better teammate. The jury, obviously, is still out on whether this will pay off.

14

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Utah

Upside: The rebuilding phase begins in earnest as the Jazz let Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap walk in free agency and are ready to turn things over to big men Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. Rookie point guard Trey Burke will assume the reins as the Jazz prepare for trial by fire with the team’s young players.
Downside: It’s going to be a rough one in Utah. Summer League is not necessarily an accurate measure of a player, but Burke looked overmatched in Las Vegas and that is cause for concern. They’re right to see what they have with Kanter and Favors, but even those guys are still on the early end of their learning curves. The bright side, though, is that the much-anticipated ’14 draft will come in June.

15

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Phoenix

Upside: The Suns will get one of the first four picks in the NBA draft and go from there. This is not going to be a winning year in Phoenix, but considering the prizes available in next year’s draft, that’s not the worst thing. They have a pretty coveted trade chip (Marcin Gortat), a respected new coach (Jeff Hornacek) and one of the most interesting faces in a new place out there (Eric Bledsoe), so there is much that can be done in order to kickstart the rebuilding.

Downside: Well, there isn’t much of a downside when you go into a season prepared to take your lumps. The only way this is a useless season for the Suns is if they get nothing out of rookie Alex Len and if Bledsoe proves a bust.